Executive Function: Problem Solving Skills And Other Complex Thinking Skills In Children

Literature on child cognition states that children typically do not develop complex thinking skills such as problem solving until they are 8 or older. This is primarily because skills such as problem solving are governed by a region of the frontal lobe called the prefrontal cortex, which does not fully develop until young adulthood.

The prefrontal cortex governs many skills that we demand our children to master. Specifically, this set of skills, called executive function, includes various types of behavioral regulation, such as:

Behavioral inhibition

Emotional control

Self-monitoring

Flexibility of shifting between activities and/or thoughts

Also included are abilities such as:

Working memory

Planning and organization

Organization of materials

Initiation of projects

How would a child look if he or she had these skills?

Younger kids would know the location of all their toys and books. They would never have problems with last-minute changes in plans, would be able to stop their upset feelings quickly without being asked, would listen to reason and see your point, would think ahead, and would be able to control their behavior. In addition, they would be able to organize their room and play area and would begin homework and school projects without being asked.

Obviously, this is a wish list, not a realistic set of expectations. We know that children are not ready to behave this way all the time. Identifying these skills as developing over the course of maturation helps to clarify why many parents have trouble eliciting these behaviors in their children. In fact, some of these abilities and types of behavioral regulation are difficult even for adults. So how do we help a child develop some of these skills?

The key lies in how we first examine and understand the skills to be developed and then how we practice those skills. It is essential to develop these skills through effective learning, which will help lay the groundwork for kids, leaving imprints in various parts of their brain from what they have learned and experienced. Researchers and educators often say that children learn best through play. This is because play requires using many parts of the brain simultaneously.

With learning often comes the challenge of dealing with motivation to learn. This is where shaping comes into play.

Shaping, in terms of behavior, means you reach a desired point through various steps. Since executive functioning skills are a higher level of cognitive functioning, they are challenging for children to learn, whether due to lack of maturity, motivation, gross motor skills, or other factors. Instead of just telling them to do something, you need to help them learn it in steps. Basic skills should be assessed first. Then you can teach them to incorporate various skills, one at a time, into their day. Breaking down complex tasks or skills will make them easier and more manageable for children to learn and master. Providing opportunities for children to feel successful will maintain their motivation to continue to learn. Having a succession of successful experiences is a cornerstone of effective learning.

With that in mind, how do we teach problem-solving skills? First, we teach planning skills.

Planning skills encompass a wide range of executive functioning skills. They help make problem-solving skills more tangible and easier to break down into the individual processes that are involved in these skills. They encourage thinking ahead and anticipating potential obstacles and results. Planning should also involve considering what to do if the plan doesn’t go as intended and should offer opportunities to reflect on the fact that things do not always happen as planned.

Planning requires steps, which are more tangible and easier to follow than the general instruction to change one’s behavior. For example, consider a child who gets angry every time you tell him or her to do homework. To change this reaction, you might tell the child not to get upset or to DO the homework. But instead, offering step-by-step guidance, you might say, “After school, we will always check first to see what homework you have. Then you will do your homework at this desk, where you will have pencils, colored pencils, and other materials, kind of like having a checklist of everything you may need. After you’re done with your homework, you can check to see if you have made any mistakes.”

The lesson will unfold while doing a task or an activity. It can come in small increments, such as planning for dinner, getting ingredients for a meal, planning for a small art project (such as making a birthday card for a friend), and so on.

Here are two examples of ways to model planning skills:

“What should we have for dinner tonight? How about chicken quesadillas? What will we need? Let’s see … we have chicken and corn … oh! We don’t have tortillas; let’s go buy some. What else do we need?” This technique can be effectively used with young children in order to demonstrate internalized thought, in this case, talking out loud about what you intend to do.

A teaching opportunity can also arise as part of an activity. Let’s say your child wants to tie a ribbon around a doll. Your dialogue may sound like this: “Do we have any ribbon? Where is it? Okay, now that we have ribbon, what should we do next? Before we cut the ribbon, maybe we should measure to see if it fits around the doll. How much ribbon should we cut?” Or if your child already attempted and impulsively started to cut the ribbon (which most children will do), you can comment on the failed plan and provide him or her with ways to correct the problem, giving your child a chance to be successful. For example, “Yikes, it’s too short. I guess we should have measured the ribbon first. Let’s do another one. What should we do first?” (Now the child remembers to measure.) “What a way to think ahead! You remembered to measure first!”